Other things around Paris

Pictures taken of us and of Paris... in no particular order.

Metro

 

 

    

Moulin Rouge

Metropolitan subway

   

Catacombs of Paris

The entrance to Catacombes de Paris

The Catacombs of Paris or Catacombes de Paris are a famous underground ossuary in Paris, France. Organized in a renovated section of the city's vast network of subterranean tunnels and caverns towards the end of the 18th century, it became a tourist attraction on a small scale from the early 19th century and was open to the public on a regular basis from 1867. The actual name for the catacombs are l'Ossuaire Municipal.

Amanda wasn't feeling well this day so we left her at the apartment with a key, a cellphone and food. We got to the Catacombes around 11:00 am and saw a long line. The line only took 1/2 hour and went rather quickly. It cost about 7 euros for adults, 3,50 for students/teachers.

They only allow 200 people at a time, so as people were leaving the catacombes, they were letting people in. From the entrance you walk down 133 steps. There's pictures of the tunnel, the people, and the history, and then you walk (for what it seems like) miles until you finally reach the area before the catacombs (see 2nd photo). Then as you decend down, you'll see signs asking you not to touch anything and to refrain from flash photography. You're entering the catacombes!

There were miles of wall to wall bones, each section with dates of which era it belonged to. Eventually the wall of bones ends and you're leaded up 88 steps to the top, back into civilization and on the opposite block of where you started.

After exiting the catacombes, if you turn right and then right at the boulevard, you'll get back to the entrance.

heading down!

Not as creepy as you think

 

 

Normandy Region: US Cemetary , Mont St Michel

Its Sunday and we rented a car and headed to the Normandy region. Martin wanted to go to the D-day beaches and to the the Mont St. Michel monastary.

We were very fortunate that our car had a GPS! It was tricky to find some of the places. Taking the toll roads it took about 3 hours to get from Paris to the War Memorial and about 20 min more to get to Omaha beach. After visiting the American Cemetary we programmed the GPS to take us to the chateau we were staying near Mont St. Michel.

The tolls was about 20 euros one way, and there were plenty of rest stops along the way. Our car took diesel and cost 1.51 euros a litre.

War Memorial/ Omaha Beach:
The first picture is the entrance to the War Memorial, displaying flags from countries around the world. The last 3 are photos from the American Cemetary.

 
   
 


Le Château de Boucéel
This chateau is located about 15 min from Mt. St. Michel. The owner is an actual Count, whose family owned the chateau for generations.

The first picture if the front of the chateau (our rental car is the first one), and the second photo is our bedroom, which used to belong to the Count's great grandmother.

The property went on and on... there were animals, cottages and beautiful flowers. If you look at the last picture, look on the 2nd floor and you can see me poking my head from our bedroom window!

   
 

A Countess slept here!

 

Dinner at a cafe, in a little town close to the chateau.
We asked the Count to recommend a non touristy place to eat. He directed us to a little cafe about 15 minutes from the Chateau with the directions "when you get to the only stop light in town, the restaurant is located on the left".

Martin had the mussels in the white cream sauce, a steak, the Camembert cheese (made only in the Normandy region) and an apple tart. Normandy is famous for the apples, and I had the Cider to go with my meal.


 

Dining al fresco

Smiley

Quintessential French town

 
After dinner, we went to Mont St. Michel. Mont-St-Michel is home to an abbey that dates back to the 11th century and now boasts impressive illuminations at night. The island, with its fast and fickle tides, was a notorious prison during the French Revolution of 1789.

Tourists have to be careful when parking at the causeway. If the tides become too high, the "bridge" which gaps the main land and the island will disappear. Lucky the tide was low (there's a sign posted telling you if its ok to park).

We arrived at Mt. St. Michel around 10:00 pm, and the sun was just setting. Most of the shops were closed or closing, but the restaurants were still open. We walked to the top to see the abbey and then walked back down, check out the hotels on property. The hotels were nice but not very private, as people like me could peek in.

Low tide!

 

DISNEYLAND PARIS

What's a trip to Paris without visiting Disneyland? We went on a Friday and the crowd wasn't too bad. It took us about 45 minutes by train from Paris, and the one way on the RER cost 6,30.

We got our tickets online and printed them at home. We saved 10% by getting our park hopper on line, and we also got a special line at the turnstyle.

Main Street USA? Or Main Street Paris?

You can see the similarities of this park compared to Disneyland, Anaheim.

Martin wanted to ride Space Mountain, and got a fast pass. When we were in Paris back in 2004, Space Mountain was refurbished but we couldn't ride it because it was broken. It seems Martin isn't supposed to ride it, because as he was getting into the ride, the ride broke.

Most of the rides were similar to Disneyland Anaheim's. DLRP has the Alice in Wonderland maze (but its not a ride). We also rode their Haunted Mansion (called Phantom Manor) which is more scary than our HM.

For lunch we ate in Frontierland's BBQ restaurant. The food wasn't bad and I got my diet coke with ICE!! Yay!

After lunch we went to the Tarzan show before heading to the Disney studio park and waited 60 min for the Crush ride. It was worth the wait!!



 

 

Musée d'Orsay, Lunch at Altitude 95!

 

Our apartment is located near a bakery, so Martin went down to get us our daily croissant, while I made a pot of coffee in the kitchen. We started off this day at the Musée d'Orsay, a 5 story museum which used to be a train station. Our Museum Pass covered the d'Orsay, and we also by passed the line to get in. A good tip is to go to the back of the museum, take the escalator to the top, and work your way down.

Unlike the Louvre, the d'Orsay contained more modern, 20th century pieces, such as Picasso, Monet, Gaudi.

We had to leave the d'Orsay early to make it to our lunch reservation at the Eiffel Tower's Altitude 95 restaurant. I booked our reservation on line, but you can call or email the restaurant. I don't know if booking online and prepaying for the prefixed lunch gave us better seats, but we had an unobstructed view of the Trocadero.

The food and service at the restaurant wasn't the best... but to bypass the long line to get on the Eiffel Tower was worth it!! We still had to purchase tickets to get on the elevator, but the ticket line and the line itself was not the same as the 1 hour wait that the other tourists had to stand in.

After the Eiffel Tower, we went to the Centre Pompidou, a museum that features a leading collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. After we finished the Pompidou, Martin and I sat at the Starbucks and wrote postcards while Amanda got her portrait done by an artist.

Day 2: Louvre, Champs-Élysées

We started off our first official day in Paris with breakfast at a cafe across the street from our apartment. What's for breakfast? Chocolate Croissant, Cafe Creme, Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, what else?!

 
 

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Following breakfast, we went to the Louvre and purchased a 2 day museum pass. You can buy the pass in the Louvre at the Museum Pass office, located downstairs near the Starbucks (that's right.. Starbucks!). The pass doesn't really save you money, but it does help you bypass lines at select places. You can also get the pass at the T.I., the metro station, and other museums.

Of coures we had to see the Mona Lisa (you can't miss the sign telling you where to go!), and at mid morning, took at break at the cafe, which overlooked the courtyard and the pyramid. The cafe was a bit pricey, so if you want to eat at the Louvre, try eating at the ground floor. There's a cafeteria and sandwich kiosks, which I am sure was much cheaper!

I THINK she's having a good time??

 

 

 

After the Louvre, we walked (and walked!) to the Champs-Élysées, the most famous street in Paris. We took a peek at the Disney Store, and at the end of the boulevard was the Arc de Triomphe. The museum pass gave us free access to the Arc, so we climbed the 196 steps to the top of the Arc and saw a great view of the city.

The Arc has an elevator, but only if you are disabled. Bring water and hope you're in good shape!! Its a long hike!

Lord, I'm tired!

 

 

Dinner with Clement

I've known Clement for many years thru the Disney pin trading. We've chatted over the years via email, but never had the opportunity to meet in person.

My last trip back in 2004, his schedule conflicted with mine, but this time we made sure to meet for dinner. He took us to a cafe located outside the Paris city. This cafe didn't serve dinner until 8:00 so we chatted and had drinks until they were open for food.

The restaurant had some really good steak, pork, and duck. YUM!